of her four fallen colleagues, the pain, the memories were still raw. >> i stood next to president obama as the marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the planes at andrews. i put my arms around the mothers and fathers, the sisters and brothers. the sons and daughters. >> reporter: and clinton did not hesitate to shoulder the blame. >> as i have said many times, i take responsibility. >> reporter: but that did little to quiet some republicans, who wanted to know how this could have happened. >> you let the consulate become a death trap. >> had i been president at the time, i would have relieved you of your post. i think it's inexcusable. >> reporter: the secretary fought back, aggressively defending comments made by u.n. ambassador susan rice five days after the attack. >> a very simple phone call to these individuals i think would have ascertained immediately, that there was no protest. >> with all due respect, the fact is, we had four dead americans. was it because of a protest? or because of guys out for a walk one night that decided to go kill some americans? what difference a